Democrats and Republicans are trading blows once more, but this time, the fight is over Joe Biden’s mental and physical fitness during his time in office. Bill Clinton is now defending Biden against serious accusations in a new book that claims White House insiders were forced to take control as Biden’s faculties faded.
A new report from the New York Post reveals that Clinton flatly rejected claims made in “Original Sin,” a book alleging that Biden’s decline left him unable to lead, forcing family members and senior aides to effectively run the country. Clinton told CBS Sunday Morning he was “never” concerned about Biden’s ability to do the job.
Clinton’s remarks come at a time when Democrats are still reeling from Biden’s failed reelection bid and a disastrous debate performance that led to his withdrawal from the race. With Trump back in the White House, Democrats and Republicans are using Biden’s health as ammunition for their own political arguments while everyday Americans watch the back-and-forth with growing skepticism.
Bill Clinton, now 78, made his case clear during a recent interview, saying that he personally witnessed no evidence of mental decline in Joe Biden. Clinton insisted that his interactions with Biden left him with no worries about the 82-year-old’s competence as commander-in-chief.
Clinton said, “I saw President Biden not very long ago, and I thought he was in good shape.” When challenged about explosive allegations made in “Original Sin”—which claims a “council of confidants” was forced to step in and run the White House—Clinton doubled down, stating he never left a meeting with Biden thinking, “he can’t do this anymore.”
The former president also confirmed that he did not read the controversial book by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. Clinton dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and irrelevant, given Biden is no longer president and, in Clinton’s words, “did a good job.”
“Original Sin,” published in May, paints a dire picture of Biden’s final year in office. According to the book, a so-called “politburo” of trusted Biden advisers—along with his wife Jill Biden and son Hunter—took the reins as the president’s ability to focus diminished. The book goes further, alleging the White House actively concealed Biden’s decline during his unsuccessful second-term campaign.
The book’s release coincided with public reports that Biden had been diagnosed with “aggressive” prostate cancer. Critics argue that this diagnosis and the claims of hidden decline show a pattern of secrecy and mismanagement at the highest level of government.
Biden supporters, however, are not letting these accusations go unchallenged. Jill Biden, the former first lady, told “The View” that the book’s authors “were not in the White House with us, and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day.” She called the book’s claims baseless and out of touch with the reality she witnessed.
Despite Clinton’s defense, questions about Biden’s fitness persist. Clinton acknowledged that he did have one concern—not about Biden’s mind, but about the sheer demands of the presidency for someone approaching their mid-eighties. “The only concern I thought he had to deal with was, could anybody do that job until they were 86?” Clinton noted, referencing Biden’s potential age at the end of a second term.
Clinton emphasized that Biden was always “on top of his briefs” during their conversations and dismissed the notion that he was a mere figurehead. Nevertheless, the book’s depiction of a struggling president has added fuel to critics’ arguments that the Democratic Party kept voters in the dark.
Biden’s final months were marked by a widely panned debate performance against Donald Trump, after which he withdrew from the race in July. The fallout from his exit has left Democrats divided, with some blaming Biden and his team for mishandling the campaign, while others point fingers at the media and political opponents for exploiting his health issues.
With Trump now back in the Oval Office, the Democratic Party faces a reckoning over how it handled Biden’s decline and the extent to which it was kept from the public. Allies of the former president insist Biden’s work ethic never faltered, but critics—including many Republicans—are demanding accountability for what they see as a cover-up.
Clinton, for his part, says that attempts to blame Biden for Trump’s victory are misguided. He argued that the challenges the country faces are bigger than one man’s health and suggested that the book’s authors are using Biden’s decline as a scapegoat for broader political failures.
Meanwhile, the Republican Party is seizing on the controversy, arguing that the Democratic establishment’s lack of transparency should disqualify them from future leadership. The back-and-forth shows no signs of stopping as both sides dig in for what is sure to be a contentious political season.
